Vintage 1960s Men’s Fashions Shoes

Men’s Fashions

Shoes

 

WingTips

The Alden Alpine Grain Long Wing was a very popular shoe. Their appearance was similar to the Florsheim shoe, but the big difference was in the heel. The Alden show had a half leather and half rubber heel while the Florham shoe featured a double leather sole and a smooth leather heel. This limits traction and is why some call it a “suicide heel” due to wearers slipping and falling on smooth surfaces. If you find a pair with a rubber heel, the heel was replaced at some point (and probably by someone who fell).

Pointed ankle-high boots

Winklepickers, winkle pickers, Roach Killers, or Fruit Boots are a style of shoe or boot worn from the late 1950s onward by rock and roll fans (especially British fans). The feature that gives both the boot and shoe their name is the very sharp and long pointed toe, reminiscent of medieval footwear. The Beatles, early on, wore these or similar boots called Chelsea Boots.

 

In the UK, the extremely pointed toe was called the winkle picker because in England periwinkle snails, or winkles, are a popular seaside snack which is eaten using a pin or other pointed object to extract the soft parts out of the coiled shell carefully, hence the phrase: "to winkle something out", and based on that, winklepickers became a humorous name for shoes with a very pointed tip. Other countries had other humorous names, e.g. in Norway and Sweden they were called myggjagere, and myggjagare, literally "Mosquito chasers". In some parts of the U.S. they are called "roach stompers” or “roach killers."

Huaraches

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Huaraches were discovered and popularized by Surfers and young beachgoers. Huraraches are inexpensive hand-made Mexican sandals, mentioned in the lyrics of the Beach Boys songs SURFIN' U.S.A. and NOBLE SURFER; and in the novel ASK THE DUST, written by John Fante (the Camilla Lopez's shoes) also in the novel ON THE ROAD, written by Jack Kerouac. Doc Sportello, the detective from Thomas Pynchon's INHERENT VICE, wears a pair of huaraches. He eventually loses one shoe and finishes the adventure using only the other one.

 

NOTE: Of course, the ever-popular basketball or tennis shoe was and is still popular with teens. Whether they be high-tops (like Keds, Converse, or Red Ball Jets) or low, white sneakers or tennis shoes. In coastal communities, deck shoes or boat shoes such as Sperry Topsiders were popular and spoke of your place in the boating community.